Spokane DVD highlights, week of June 22, 2010

Don't let the rainy weather get you down, Spokane: it's a good excuse to stay indoors and watch a movie, as several hot new releases find their way onto DVD this week. A wartime thriller and three documentaries top the list of DVD highlights for the week of June 22.

If the pairing of actor Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass makes you think immediately of The Bourne Supremacy, then you're forgiven for thinking the trailers for their latest pairing, The Green Zone (R), look remarkably like the start of a new Jason Bourne adventure. Even the DVD cover looks Bourne-ish, but alas, this is something different entirely. Damon stars as covert Army officer Roy Miller, following hit-and-miss intelligence in Iraq in a search for evidence of WMDs. Caught between a CIA agent, a politician, and his own conscience, Miller struggles to untangle a web of lies and secrets in a place where he can trust no one--not even his own people--to tell him the truth.

The Children's War (NR) is the first feature-length film from Andrew Krakower, who was still a student at the University of Texas at Austin when he traveled to Uganda to shoot a documentary about the successful reversal of AIDS infection rates in Uganda. While there, however, he heard from locals about the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which makes a practice of kidnapping children to fill their ranks. Intrigued, Krakower and his team shifted focus and traveled north, despite the danger from both the rebels and the corrupt government soldiers, to document the atrocities committed by both sides, and the fates of the families caught in the middle of the fighting.

Fuel (NR), which took home the Sundance Film Festival Best Documentary Audience Award. Shot over the course of ten years, Fuel addresses America's addiction to oil, the search for a renewable energy source to lessen the need for drilling, and the controversies surrounding various types of bio-fuels. Certainly, it isn't the first film to tackle the issue of America's dependence on oil, but with the recent BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it's a timely subject that bears addressing once again.

Finally, for all those U2 fans disappointed to hear about the summer tour cancellations, the concert DVD U2 360° At The Rose Bowl roars onto DVD and Blu-ray (this is the first time U2 concert ever available on Blu-ray). The Rose Bowl performance was U2's biggest ever U.S. show, and the concert footage was shot entirely in HD by a total of 27 (!) cameras. Available in standard and two-disc deluxe DVD formats and Blu-ray;  the deluxe formats and the Blu-ray will feature a new documentary called Squaring the Circle: Creating U2360°, with new interviews from U2, Paul McGuinness, and the team behind the touring production. I highly recommend checking out the Amazon.com page for the DVD, which lists all of the songs, videos, clips, interviews, and other extras included in the various packages; there's just way too much good stuff to list here!

Other titles available on DVD in the Spokane area include:

• 70% Club (NR), starring Darius Willis and Mary McCallum. Dramedy exploring the statistic that 70% of all black women are single, and how it's effect on a group of single friends.
• Bluebeard (NR), starring Dominique Thomas and Lola Creton. French director Catherine Breillat reinterprets the classic fairy tale of a young girl in an arranged marriage to a monstrous killer; in French with English subtitles.
• Fireball (PG-13), starring Ian Somerhalder. Before he took on the role of bad boy Damon in The Vampire Diaries, Somerhalder headlined this film about a convict with psycho-kinetic powers.
• The Good Guy (R), starring Alexis Bledel. A young woman in New York tries to choose between two potential suitors.
• Jack and the Beanstalk (G), starring Chevy Chase and Gilbert Gottfried. A creative retelling of the classic fairy tale.
• The Last Station (R), starring Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, and Paul Giamatti. Comedy-drama about the last years of author Leo Tolstoy's life.
• Remember Me (PG-13), starring Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin. The Twilight heartthrob shows himself capable of more than just brooding in this drama about star-crossed lovers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Get a coupon for $8 off the DVD or Blu-ray.
• Riverworld (NR), starring Alan Cumming and Tahmoh Penikett. SyFy Channel miniseries about a man who awakens from death by a mysterious river in a world full of blue-skinned people.
• She's Out of My League (R), starring Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve. If you liked the raunchy comedy of The Hangover, then you might like this story about a geek and a beauty who fall in love, much to the dismay of their friends.
• Thirst (NR), starring Lacey Chabert. Two couples are stranded in the desert.
• Timer (R), starring Emma Caulfield. The Buffy actress stars in a sci-fi dramedy about a woman who lives in a world where people can buy timers that will count down to the moment where he or she will meet their true soulmate. Unluckily for her, her timer keeps breaking.
• Wolf Moon (R), starring Max Ryan. A girl falls in love with a werewolf in the high desert.

You can find trailers and info for all of this week's releases by visiting the IMDB website or Rotten Tomatoes. You can also check title availability at major DVD rental chains in the Spokane / Coeur d'Alene area: Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and Redbox. Use the 'store locater' tabs to find a rental outlet near you!

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